Shave like grandad did

by **mjh** on Sat Mar 22, 2008 7:03 am

I was reflecting on how this site espouses a sort of "old school" approach to lifting. Stay away from the fancy, expensive and useless machines, instead use the same or similar kinds of weights, lifts, and foods that have served lifters well for a good hundred years. I thought I'd share how I've also adopted an old school style in another area of manliness, shaving.

I always hated shaving and I was plagued by ingrown hairs, shaving rash, and uneven shaves. Then I read a few blog posts about shaving with an old school safety razor, a brush and a cake of shaving soap.

So as a Christmas treat last year I bought myself a shaving set from www.classicshaving.com.

A merkur double blade safety razor, two cakes of soap, a boar bristle brush and 20 blades: about $60usd. Blades are about $5 for ten, a smidgen better than the $20 plus you'll pay for most cartridge refills these days. they cut the hairs on your face, cleanly and quickly, instead of ripping them out. The soap, $5, lasts forever and gives a much better shave than aerosols. The brush is what makes the difference, lathering up real good, standing up all the hairs and massaging your face at the same time.

An old-fashioned safety razor and shaving brush are to a Gilette Mach3 what a barbell and plates are to the smith machine.

What was an irksome chore is now a pleasurable daily ritual. I'll never go back to aerosols and disposables. In the last few months I've been downright evangelical about two things: strength training in general and stronglifts in particular, and old school shaving.

by **Taz** on Sat Mar 22, 2008 7:19 am

A couple of years ago I read an article about how the old safety razors are still better than the new stuff today. I was skeptical but at the same time, I was so sick of my skin being so raw and sensitive after a shave.

I went and got a regular old safety razor and cartridges and I couldn't be happier. No more irritation and no more nicks and cuts. The cake/brush didn't make much of a difference in my case, so I still use L'Oreal shaving gel which works great for my skin. YMMV.

by **phillipsjosh2415** on Sat Mar 22, 2008 7:20 am

mjh,
How often do you shave and how long does a blade last?

by **mjh** on Sat Mar 22, 2008 7:39 am

I shave every other day, sometimes go three days if it's the weekend or I have no work. A blade will last at least a week, and is good for two, but when I change my blade after two weeks I really notice the difference between the old and the new. Amazon sells 3x10 for $15US. That's 50c each. The soap has been going for three months and is only about 20% gone.

by **mjh** on Sat Mar 22, 2008 7:44 am

Dont' be fooled by my avatar and profile photo. I'm clean shaven these days.

Before:

During:

After:

by **vinyl_warrior** on Sat Mar 22, 2008 9:31 am

I just recently got into this too. As a matter of fact, I was just checking in here before going over to badgerandblade's forum to write a quick check-in about my shaving progress.

Truth be told, I'm still having a tough time with it. What's giving me hope that I'll eventually get good at is my progress on SL 5X5. When I first started 5X5, I couldn't do any of the exercises very well. Now, a couple months in, some things are finally starting to click. Squats are now good to go, finally, and so are bench presses and deadlifts. Chinups are getting better. Overhead presses are still a little dodgy, and the barbell rows still need a lot of work.

The lesson I've learned is that if I keep working on it, eventually I'll get it right.

I'm glad I saw this post. I'm also happy I'm not the only one who has drawn parallels between more classic shaving and lifting found here at strong lifts.

My shaving setup is similar to the one posted:
Merkur HD razor
Derby blades for now (although I bought a crazy sampler pack with over 25 different kinds of blades!)
Proraso pre/post shave cream
Proraso shaving cream
Omega boar brush (I want a badger brush, but I'll wait for a while)
Proraso aftershave (no alcohol)

by **mjh** on Sat Mar 22, 2008 9:39 am

From what I've read and practised, shaving with a safety razor is different from shaving with plastic disposable/cartridge razors.

don't apply pressure, just let the weight of the razor do the work

use short strokes

make two or even three passes over your face, relathering each time

I also like to use a pre-shave lotion, in my case simple j&j baby oil.

by **vinyl_warrior** on Sat Mar 22, 2008 9:55 am

thanks for the advice! I'm moving away from using an electric razor, so it's been a long time since I've had to worry about normal razor shaving.

my neck area is especially problematic. When you shave your neck, do you do anything special? Look up, to the side, or anything like that?

by **mjh** on Sat Mar 22, 2008 10:05 am

I have quite a sensitive neck too. I've found that it helps if I shave "with the grain", that is, the direction in which the hairs grow. For me that is upwards on the neck, downwards on the face.

by **Mehdi** on Sat Mar 22, 2008 12:30 pm

Great stuff mjh

I also ditched the gilette long time ago.
I bought the same double merkur razor 2 years ago. Musgo Real cream / after shave (I've tried pro raso too, skin didn't like it that much). I highly recommend you read this blog (it's not updated anymore, but the guy knows his thing).
Most important is to warm your skin well, use good products (test what your skin likes), lather a lot and no pressure. The rest is practice. You'll cut yourself, but you'll improve.
Closer shaves, you have to shave less and no more ingrown hairs. And it definitely costs less than using gilette.

I stopped shaving about a year ago. I trim facial hear 2-3mm biweekly. I like to think of the caveman lifestyle. I don't see him using razors.

by **mjh** on Sat Mar 22, 2008 12:44 pm

My personal preference is for a beard too, but the girlfriend says no.

by **Mehdi** on Sat Mar 22, 2008 1:45 pm

mjh:My personal preference is for a beard too, but the girlfriend says no.

Girls indeed don't like it.

by **Scottymouth** on Sat Mar 22, 2008 2:32 pm

Great post. Shaving is one of those things that has always been in the background and annoyed me, but never enough to figure into my recounting the daily stresses. If I happen to come across one of those old time kits, I check it out. After the new rack, weights, fat caliper, whey and grocery intake - another adjustment to my lifestyle may send my wife to the loony bin!

by **johnnyo** on Sat Mar 22, 2008 2:57 pm

Scottymouth:
Great post. Shaving is one of those things that has always been in the background and annoyed me, but never enough to figure into my recounting the daily stresses. If I happen to come across one of those old time kits, I check it out. After the new rack, weights, fat caliper, whey and grocery intake - another adjustment to my lifestyle may send my wife to the loony bin!

I can attest to that, my wife is very supportive but since all i talk about is lifting weights and now keeping true to the anabolic diet I think if i made another change to my lifestyle in such a short time frame she'll flip! good stuff though, my dad has always used a straight edge and he first started me on that, but of course modern advertising has lured me into using the fancy 5 blade titanium, vibrating, neon colored razors....

by **Jonesy** on Sat Mar 22, 2008 4:46 pm

Haha Funny thing, my wife has always pushed me to be more healthy, now that I am doing 5x5 that is all I talk about and she gets annoyed.

I used to have razor burn issues on my neck all the time. I quit using fancy lathers, and creams and just use a gilette with nothing but a wet face in the shower. Straight skin/water. Works great, never a in grown hair.